Alive
by onion.sun
Summary: In the second season finale, Damon decides to save Jeremy, with some interesting consequences.


_Something I wanted to see in this season's finale, so here it is, hoping you'll like it:)_

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><p>Almost a year had passed and yet, she was in the same place once again, as if nothing had changed.<p>

The hospital looked grimmer than usual tonight. The bright neon lights cast a dark, blue shadow over everything around her.

The doctors had told her he was in a critical condition and only a miracle would save him now.

Bonnie knew what miracle they were talking about and that she was also the person capable to perform it.

She knew what this entailed and that something was going to be taken in return and she hoped she would be able to go through with it, because this was Jeremy and he was worth the sacrifice.

She had called Elena several times now, but she had not received a call back. She had stopped trying.

She felt everyone she knew had disappeared, as if she could not reach them, as if she had no one. Everything was upside down.

In the middle of her despair, she was certain someone was watching her.

She saw him almost like a shadow in the bright, blue light, walking towards her down the corridor.

For one brief moment, she had forgotten about him. And she had managed to block out the memory.

Any amount of anger she might have saved up vanished when she saw him.

Jeremy may have protected him with his life, but Damon wasn't to blame this time as much as she wanted him to.

'What are you doing here?' she asked hoarsely. 'Aren't you dying?'

Damon smiled bitterly.

'I am touched you would think of me in such moments. Isn't your boyfriend about to see the bright light?'

'Have you come here to torture me? Now? After everything?' she asked in a pleading voice.

'No. Old habits die hard.' He sighed. 'I came to see him. I owe him that. He saved my life.'

Bonnie chuckled bitterly. 'In vain, really. You're still bitten.'

'Not anymore,' he said, closing his eyes in guilt.

Bonnie frowned confused. 'What's wrong? What happened?'

'I'm going to live.'

Her eyes widened. 'Isn't that good news? Why do you sound like it's the opposite?'

Damon ran a hand through his hair impatiently, almost as if the question seemed out of place, as if the answer was so obvious.

It took a moment for Bonnie to realize what his expression meant.

'Stefan,' she exhaled.

It was only another aspect she had managed to avoid thinking about momentarily, but it was coming back with a vengeance.

She had told him about Klaus, after all.

'He went to Klaus to ask for a cure. And...he got it,' she surmised, staring at Damon. 'Didn't he?'

'He got it. He got me the cure. But Klaus took him instead.'

Bonnie covered her mouth in pain. If she had to be honest with herself, she had had a feeling something similar would happen. But she had hoped it would never come to this.

'Oh, God. Oh, God no. What are we going to do now? Do you know where Klaus is? We have to get Stefan back, who knows what that monster will do to him. Katherine should know where...'

Damon shook his head in agony.

'Katherine brought me the cure. She is his perfect pawn. She can't do anything without him knowing. And she didn't tell us anything. And I have no idea where that son-of-a-bitch might me.'

'But we are going to look for him, we _are_ going to find Stefan,' Bonnie said, staring him down.

'He should have let me die,' Damon said out of the blue. 'He should've never...I never deserved this kind of sacrifice.'

'You know better than I that you couldn't have stopped him. He loves you too much and he would do anything for you. You are his brother.'

Damon was taken aback by her words.

'I never wanted him to suffer because of me. I would rather not be his brother than let him go to Klaus.'

Bonnie frowned.

'But you are and you can't change that or what's happened.'

'Don't you get it, Bonnie? It's all me. It's my fault again. It's always my fucking fault.'

'Not everything is _your_ fault, Damon. You didn't choose to get bitten. Don't pick the easy way out of this. This is not about _you_, this is not about _your_ pain. He is the one that needs to be saved.'

Damon didn't expect this answer. It felt like a bucket of cold water splashing him in the face.

He almost blinked the water out.

'He doesn't need you to feel _sorry_ for yourself. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain. You're alive. So do something. Do what is right,' she finished firmly.

Damon was oddly shaken by her words.

'I'm not going to just sit and _cry_, if that's what you mean, Bonnie,' he replied coldly, 'but right now, doing the right thing is going to be hard.'

'What do you mean?'

'I know Klaus wouldn't kill Stefan, but he might...awaken him.'

Bonnie was even more confused now.

'What are you talking about?'

'I'm not sure yet, and I can't talk about it with you, but you'll find out, eventually. And it's not going to be good,' he said.

'Find out what? Damon, if you know something, you'd better tell me. I'm on your side, in case you forgot.'

'I haven't unfortunately. How's Jeremy?' he asked, refusing to answer her.

'He's...he's barely alive,' she said, pausing briefly to look at the ER doors.

'I'm afraid he's not going to make it,' she added, her voice wavering slightly.

Damon could see how she was making great efforts to hide the pain she was feeling. The cover was cracking slowly, however.

'He's a good kid. I'm sorry,' Damon offered sincerely.

'I can save him,' Bonnie replied. 'I'm not sure, but I could do it. I could summon the spirits and they would help me.'

Damon looked at her as if she was insane.

'You want to bring him back with their help? You do know they'll ask for something in return, right?'

'I know. That's what I worry about. I would sacrifice anything for him. Or at least that's what I tell myself. But I don't know what they have to take from me. They've grown impatient. I don't know what could happen. But I'm going to do it, either way. I can't let him die.'

Damon looked at the unshed tears threatening to fall on her cheeks and he knew what he had to do. The decision was made for him, really. He had come here with the purpose of helping Jeremy and now he knew he had only one option, if he did not want Bonnie to get into trouble. And he realized he didn't.

'I know you'll do what you have to, Bennett. I'm going to fetch Elena. She doesn't know about this yet.'

'I'll be here. Waiting,' she told him, sitting down again, keeping her eyes on the floor.

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><p>It wasn't hard tracking him down. After coming across the right doctors, he managed to glamour them into telling him where he could find Jeremy.<p>

He snuck into one of the ER wards through the window. He hadn't used shape-shifting for a while now and it felt new again.

After that it was quite easy.

He was standing over his bed now, watching him lying there with a weak pulse and a heavy, absent expression on his face.

'I guess we've come full circle. It wasn't long ago I tried to kill you. Now I'm going to save you.'


End file.
